. plus, the black helicopter crowd is at it again. republicans in the senate reject a united nations treaty to ban discrimination against the disabled. they say it would allow u.n. officials to come into this country and force home-schooled children into government-run, that is public schools. senator john kerry joins us to cut through the nonsense. >>> also tonight, the simpson's mr. burns gives us a rich man's look at the fiscal cliff. >> think of the economy as a car and the rich man is the driver. if you don't give the driver, he'll drive you over a cliff. >> that's an aside show and this is "hardball," the place for politics. >>> never too early for pollsters to start head to 2016. guess who's looking very strong? hillary clinton. a new abc news/washington post poll say they would back hillary clinton. it's helpful no one has run a campaign against clinton for the past four years and also helping her numbers is 68% approve of the job she's done as secretary of state for this country. >>> welcome back to "hardball." we know now that mitt romney blames his loss on obama's gifts. i should

u.n. you know? it's the united nations. and actually, it's better for america. >> absolutely. >> the united nations takes a lot of the work on the ground in these places. >> you're absolutely right. but there's human rights abuses that are exploding all over the world. and one that we're working very hard on right now is in uganda. there's anti-homosexuality bill that would make homosexual acts punishment by the death penalty. >> completely outrageous. >> it is. and the speaker of the house there said she's going to deliver this bill as a christmas present. so, we have 2 1/2 weeks to stop that bill right now. >> imagine. it's disgusting, isn't it? >> it certainly is. as people across this state, we're in new york state. you don't need a passport to work on human rights. right here, we're working on the farm workers bill. in the united states, farm workers don't have a right to overtime pay. they don't have a right to form a union. they can be fired. there's plenty of work to do here. >> as a kennedy, i've met quite a few kennedys. you're all great people from this great family. what

, former u.s. ambassador to the united nation, john bolten, judith mill eric and ed qlien. we begin with the closed door briefs on benghazi that lawmakers say raises more questions than ever that the obama administration insisted the attack was the response of a demonstration prompted by rage over an anti-islam video. fox news correspondent with the latest on what lawmakers saw and heard today from the country's top intelligence officials. >> the closed classified briefing brought together seen your state department, intelligence, and counterterrorism officials for a report on the three-month old investigation into the benghazi terrorist attacks. >> to the degree there was planning involved, something done over days, weeks, or over hours? no indication of long term planning here. >> the attacks cronology was laid oillet in a multimedia presentation with drone surveillance and video from the consulate of the cia and annex. >> this is supposed to be sovereign u.s. territory, and if people walk in on us like that without resistance really makes your blood boil because you think to your

cliff. president obama administration is quietly handing over billions of dollars to the united nations in the name of global warming. >> that was the opening salvo of a recorded message that was sent to qatar where they joined 200 countries around the world this week at a united nations climate issue summit. negotiations continue regarding a large scale climate treaty to be signed by 2015. while the u.s. senate would have to ratify any international treaty by two-third vote, inhalf says he and others are more concerned about the domestic regulations. he continued to press white house about why the administration failed to issue reports on pending regulations in april and october as required by law. the white house wouldn't explain the last to us, the source says the federal agencies are in the process of pulling together that information. bret? >> bret: thank you. there are a lot of extremely happy people in washington state tonight at the stroke of midnight, hundreds lit up under the seattle space needl needle. recreational marijuana use became legal. washington and colorado became the f

again. republicans in the senate reject a united nations treaty to ban discrimination against the disabled. they say it would allow u.n. officials to come into this country and force home-schooled children into government-run, that is public schools. senator john kerry joins us to cut through the nonsense. >>> also tonight, the simpson's mr. burns gives usña rich man' look at the fiscal cliff. >> think of the economy as a car and the rich man is the driver. if you don't give the driver, he'll drive you over a cliff. >> that's an aside show and this is "hardball," the place for politics. two years ago, the people of bp made a commitment to the gulf. bp has paid over twenty-three billion dollars to help those affected and to cover cleanup costs. today, the beaches and gulf are open, and many areas are reporting their best tourism seasons in years. and bp's also committed to america. we support nearly 250,000 jobs and invest more here than anywhere else. we're working to fuel america for generations to come. our commitment has never been stronger. >>> never too early for pollsters

reject a united nations treaty to ban discrimination against the disabled. they say it would allow u.n. officials to come into this country and force home-schooled children into government-run, that is public schools. senator john kerry joins us to cut through the nonsense. >>> also tonight, the simpson's mr. burns gives us a rich man's look at the fiscal cliff. >> think of the economy as a car and the rich man is the driver. if you don't give the driver, he'll drive you over a cliff. >> that's an aside show and this is "hardball," the place for politics. you can stay in and share something... ♪ ♪ ...or you can get out there with your friends and actually share something. ♪ the lexus december to remember sales event is on, offering some of our best values of the year. this is the pursuit of perfection. offering some of our best values of the year. when you take a closer look... ...at the best schools in the world... ...you see they all have something very interesting in common. they have teachers... ...with a deeper knowledge of their subjects. as a result, their students achieve

the permanent representative to the united nations. >> whether it is intelligence, whether it is enforcement, whether it is just the beauracracy, i have found no heroes here in washington. >> all of the things that they have disliked with about things that have gone on in this administration they've never called a male, unqualified, not bright, not trustworthy. >> greta: are the taxes and bam -- are are the attacks on ambassador rice, sexism or something else? some think ambassador rice is not being criticized for her performance but for reasons rooted in sexism. your thoughts? >> i guess they reach far an argument like that. what the heck does this have to do with gender or skin color or anything else? this has to do with competency. susan rice's handling of libya has been part and parcel of the obama administration's handling of libya which has been appalling, atrocious and indicative of a lack of competency and truthfulness and certainly transparency in the entire obama administration. it has nothing to do with her gender. >> greta: i think there is sexism involved. and i thin

approved. >> what unmitigated gall for these men to attack the permanent representative of the united nations. >> whether it's intelligence, whether it's enforcement... whether it's just the bureaucracy, vifound no heroes here in washington. >> all of the things that they have disliked about things that have gone on in this administration, they have never call aid male, unqualified -- called a male, unqualified, want bright, not trustworthy >> good evening, governor palin. your thoughts on this? >> oh, i guess they reach very far, an argument like that -- what the heck does this have to do with gender or skin color or anything else? this has to do with competency. susan rice's handling of libya has been part and parcel of the obama administration's handling of libya, which has been appalling. it's been atrocious. and it's really indicative of a lack of competency and truthfulness and certainly transparency in the entire obama administration. it has nothing to do with her gender. >> i think there is sexism involved. i think it's appalling. and it is this way, for some reason, because s

united nations disability treaty that will showcase a long-standing divide between two wings of the republican party, internationals who support the effort and isolationists who lead the opposition. with me now are two advocates for this treaty. pennsylvania republican governor dick thornberg and lifelong advocate for disability rights, ted kennedy jr. he's also founder and president of the lemar wood group. mr. thornberg, let me start with you. explain what this treaty is and why it's important. and make your case why it's important to sign on to it? >> this extends to 650 million people around the world. that's the model. and it's important to maintain america's lead ership position n this important human rights issue. it's important for us to continue to be a role model for nations around the world who are not providing the opportunities and guaranteeing the rights. >> like all treaties, this has to be ratified by the united states senate. you need a, i believe, two-thirds, to get this ratified, so you need 66 votes here. explain some of the opposition and what do you understand

. >>> the united nations general assembly voted thursday to recognize palestine as a nonmember observer state. the news was received with celebration in the west bank, but, palestinians face a harsh reality. their borders are mostly controlled by israel. they have competing governments in the west bank and gaza. what's ahead for palestinians and israelis now? let's bring in nbc correspondent martin fletcher who has covered this region longer than any other journalist in the world. just after the u.n. vote, israel and jewish settlements in the west bank and jerusalem. what does that say about israel's intentions moving forward? >> well, nothing very good, i guess. the reason they did that is that they were very, very angry that the united nations general assembly approved of the palestinians as an observer, nonvoting state. and israel's response was to say that that was a way of getting around, getting out of the peace process. preempting with the negotiations. israel said there was a great pressure on the israeli government to respond in some way. and what they did was come up with this

guys have, he never claimed he had a national mandate because he saw reagan had one. we vote for president of the united states. the american people do not vote for john boehner. you're dead wrong, and i'm thrashing you. >>> up next, some wishful thinking in john mccain and john kerry. watch how kerry stays out of this. he's not campaigning, and he's careful here. and this is "hardball," the place for politics. ♪ [ male announcer ] it's that time of year again. medicare open enrollment. time to compare plans and costs. you don't have to make changes. but it never hurts to see if you can find better coverage, save money, or both. and check out the preventive benefits you get after the health care law. ♪ open enrollment ends december 7th. so now's the time. visit medicare.gov or call 1-800-medicare. [ male announcer ] yep, there's 8 layers of whole grain fiber in those mini-wheats® biscuits... to help keep you full... ♪ 45 bushels of wheat on the farm. 45 bushels of wheat! ♪ ...all morning long. there's a big breakfast... [ mini ] yeehaw! ...in those fun little biscuits. >

national mandate because he saw reagan had one. we vote for president of the united states. the american people do not vote for john boehner. you're dead wrong, and i'm thrashing you. >>> up next, some wishful thinking in john mccain and john kerry. watch how kerry stays out of this. he's not campaigning, and he's careful here. and this is "hardball," the place for politics. >>> back to "hardball." now to the "sideshow." at the kennedy center honors last night comedian ray romano paid tribute to david letterman but slipped in a bow to president obama. >> you want to win the world series. do you quit, you're down one game to nothing? no, you keep going. you keep going. do you quit when you're down 1-0 in debates? no. no. you keep going. >> that's true. this year's honorees included dustin hoffman, led zeppelin, and more. and the president spoke to them at a white house reception and pointed out a hiccup in his own speech writing process. >> we've got buddy guy sitting next to dustin hoffman. we've got dave letterman alongside one of the greatest ballerinas of all time. i don't think dave

, hillary clinton made a comment. >> susan rice has done a great job as ambassador to the united nations and, of course, this decision about my successor is up to the president but i'm very happy he has the opportunity ability to make a second term decision. >> a strong praise of support for hillary clinton. republicans have been trying to draw up controversy over the attacks but they have a big problem. ambassador rice had absolutely no role in embassy security and republicans know this basic fact, completely destroys their bogus argument. so today gop senators cooked up a whole new talking point and it might be their most offensive attack yet. >> what troubles me so much is the benghazi attack, in many ways echos the attacks on those embassies in 1998 when susan rice was head of the african region for our state department. >> my colleague from maine raised some very important questions about the embassy bombings. those are questions that should be answered as well. >> they are exploiting another national tragedy. the 1998 embassy attacks in kenya killed more than 200 people, including 12 a

united nations recognition. david lee miller on what the u.s. intends to do. >> on the streets of ramallah, on the west bank. posters can already be seen exclaiming state of palestine, member of the united nations. before departing for new york, palestinian authority president mahmoud abbas told supporters he is determined to win a u.n. vote, raising the status of palestinians. to nonvoting member state at the world body. thursday's vote in the general assembly requires only a majority of the u.n. 193-member states and cannot be vetoed by the u.s. it was only one year ago that abbas sought full-up membership, only to be rebuffed by a threat of a u.s. veto with a security council. >> trying desperately to prevent that, to delay and threaten us. and now they understand that this is going to happen. they cannot stop it. >> the palestinian authority is frustrated at the lack of peace talks and the expansion of the israeli settlements. today, abbas met with the state department officials but failed to change the u.s.'s position on no vote. >> this resolution is not going to take them c

and instead leads the nation in ways that only one person can do, that is the president of the united states. to get to yes. house republicans are not prepared to get to foolish. and it is foolish to reject president obama's own self- described architecture of $3 in spending cuts for every dollar in new revenue. we are prepared to work and call on the white house to do the same thing. >> speaker boehner, president obama, the white house projection last offer -- \[inaudible] 53% of americans will blame republicans in congress if you go over the fiscal cliff. how long can you have that hard above. -- how long can you afford politically to have those tax cuts? >> america faces a very serious problem and our goal is to make sure it gets solved. we have a debt problem that is out of control. we have got to cut spending and i believe it is appropriate to put revenues on the table. the receive news we are putting -- of the revenues we are putting from, guess who? the rich. there are ways to limit deductions, close loopholes and have the same people pay more -- more of their money to t

unsatisfactory in the answers that i do think now she faces close to the united nations republican opposition. >> you have other stories coming out about the companies that invested in. the point is, is this an issue for would? is the president going to put her forward? >> she was protected of her in the episode. but i think john kerry has been the leading candidate all along. but some people at the table think john kerry has negative bus i think he is the leading candidate. the other big ticket item here is the treasury secretary. you can see geithner leaving. and there is talk of erskine bowles or charles djo lew. >> they lost colin, the mild mannered senator in congress and the senator that introduced rice when she was nominated to be the u.n. ambassador, when you lose collins you have lost the world. i don't understand how she went around with meetings to present her best side to the mccain and graham. to collins, ayotte and came out on the -- i'm talking about susan rice. she came out on the wrong end of this. and for some reason. i think her nomination is in deep trouble. the

for a new segment "please tell me this is rock bottom." it's official, republicans hate the united nations more than they like helping people in wheelchairs. you voted no because your fear is if we sign onto a treaty that is only recommendations for improved disability standards, standards we ourselves made the law of the land in this country 20 years ago, what's to stop the men if blue helmets from storming into your living room, i'm sorry, school, and force you to build a wheelchair accessible ramp to the cafeteria. i'm sorry, your kitchen. >> and from the tea party right to the liberal left. we had massachusetts congressman barney frank on "hardball" this week for an interview before he departs the congress altogether, but david letterman caught on to something i missed that night. >> oh, hey, kids, guess what? we have a brand new segment for you tonight. neve done this before. i'm glad you're here. i'm glad you're in a good mood. the new segment is for the love of god, open your eyes. let's go through it again, for the love of god open your eyes. i hope you enjoy it. roll it. >

the united nations still going on. what do you expect to come out of it. >> unfortunately, virtually nothing. look, we've been having these conferences for 20 years where all the governments of the world get together and try to promise to cut carbon emissions, but the reason why we can't do that is because carbon is the side effect of stuff we like. it's the electricity we have in here, it's all the great things that fossil fuels provide. stuart: what should be the global fix to the co 2 emissions problem? what would you recommend? >> well, fundamentally, as long as green energy is much more expensive than fossil fuels you're never going to convince, certainly not china and india, but not even the u.s. and europeans, that you need to innovate the price down and that's the solutions pretty much every place. >> we haven't got the technology. >> and you expect that? >> absolutely, so the point is stop putting up inefficient solar panels now. but make sure you get them to be cheap enough everyone will want them in decades. >> your judge is that a carbon tax may reduce co 2 emissions a li

vigorously to support the united nations they wrote in their platform john bolton's head is exploding as we speak when it comes to working people the republicans back in the one nine hundred fifty s. knew that as they wrote their party's platform government must have a heart as well as a head that meant they said support for working people they said under the republican administration as our country has prospered so have its people this is as it should be for as president eisenhower said labor is the united states the men and women with their minds their hearts and hands create the wealth that is shared in this country they are america went on to say that prefer the record of performance of the republican administration on behalf of our working men and women goes still further the federal minimum wage has been raised for more than two million workers social security has been extended to an additional ten million workers and the benefits raged for six and a half million the protection of unemployment insurance has been brought to four million additional workers. the republican party of

foreign service. she's done a great job i think for us at the united nations. she's fought tirelessly for america's interests in very difficult times. when the united nations is a place where we often face significant challenges. and i understand that there was a lot of concern and anger initially about benghazi and about what happened and about the differences and reports but as this has been peeled back and more and more of the details have come out as best as i can make sense of it, the persistent criticism of her is that she represented the administration, went on talking -- went on different talk shows and went different radio shows and presented it based on intelligence she was given. this is far from the first time that a secretary of state u.n. ambassador has been given bad intelligence and repeated it publicly and why that makes her somehow unfit to serve as secretary of state is beyond me. in my view, if there's some unhappiness about the incidence in benghazi, some deep concern about security, there ought to be a broad look into what happened. why four americans died. surpr

five-month period bradley manning was abused. the united nations has admitted this, why was he treated that way? several were ordered to abuse him to get a confession. that would bring down me or wikileaks. there's been no confession and that's the case that's going on now. and that case is a reflection in the decay of the rule of law. hillary clinton's spokesperson resigned over the issue. the entire quantico prisoner base was affected. it reflects serious problems within the military system. it has a feeling about accountability and unaccountability is flowing into other parts of our life. >> now i don't want to get into detail, i know you have a strong point of view, obviously on how bradley manning has been treated. but i didn't want to go down that path. i wanted to ask a question about something else you thought about him. you said what they were doing is perhaps to coerce him to get you involved in all of this. he could make a deal to serve limited time. and to make that deal, you could be the guy who loses out. are you worried that that could be the deal, he says this is what j

, the republicans hate the united nations more than they like helping people in wheel cares. >> if anybody needs a camel we have a live one. >> the constitution promises freedom of religion not freedom from religion. >> you have 100 mosques in new york city, you could build it three blocks away. >> it's 30 degrees but that baby is wrapped in a electric baseball. >> i want to let in this country 200 gramy irish mep a year. >> "wall street journamarijuana. >> some republicans are so bummed they don't want to live in america anymore. >> the race between barack obama and -- >> romney lost. >> damn it. >> the silver tour teaches seniors the benefits of medical marijuana. >> watch cheech & chong travel to mexico to watch them pick up the first van made entirely of marijuana. >> they are so daysed and confused they haven't been able to decide. >> take a toke, baby, eat a magic brow ni. it just fits so well into the seen area lifestyle. >> three, two, one. >> some of that last segment i thought maybe they had to liven everything up for me. >> 51% now favor the legalization of marijuana. >>

expected to be made at the united nations. palestinians on the verge of gaining a new status at the u.n. but the u.s. isn't so happy about this one. we'll take you there live next. ♪ ♪ ...could end with adding a close friend. ♪ the lexus december to remember sales event is on, offering some of our best values of the year. this is the pursuit of perfection. >>> u. (voting at this hour on whether to make palestine a nonmember observer state. just a latest chapter in the effort to become a status. >> reporter: the final rally before heading to new york. palestinian president abbas addressing supporters in ramallah. the final decision to head to the united nations tomorrow he says to enhance the position of palestine to an observer state in the united nations and it is the first step to achieve all our national palestinian rights. if the palestinians win a majority in the u.n. general assembly the u.n. will recognize palestine as a nonmember observer state like the vatican, the territory to include the west bank, gaza and east jerusalem. >> for the world to begin to rectify a grave hi

our ambassador to the unit nations. of course, this decision about my successor is up to the president. >> still rice had to spend another rough day on capitol hill discussing benghazi with skeptical senate republicans. >> the u.n. ambassador decided to play what was essentially a political role at the height of the contentious presidential election campaign. >> i would just ask the president to step back for a moment and realize that all of us here hold the secretary of state to a very different standard than most cabinet members. >> one rice ally, senator joe lieberman tried to take the focus off of rice this morning. >> i hope we can focus on what i think are the more important parts of our investigation which is what did our government know and what could it have done before the terrorist attack to protect the lives of the americans who were there. >> don't forget something here. this is not susan rice's first political rodeo. he didn't suddenly appear from team obama land in 2008. she has a lot of friends in this town, very experienced in washington. while this hasn't be

rice has done a great job as our ambassador to the united nations. this decision about my successor is up to the president but i'm very happy he has the opportunity with a second term to make a decision. >> secretary of state, hillary clinton, coming to the defense of his possible successor, u.n. ambassador susan rice. yet, the smear campaign against susan rice continues as more republicans pile on. rice had another tough day on capitol hill today. now, senate republicans are blaming rice for yet another security failure. the u.s. embassy bombings in kenya and tanzania 14 years ago. >> it troubles me so much is the benghazi attack in many ways echos the attacks of those embassies in 1998 when susan rice was head of the african region for our state department. >> senator bob corker in tennessee had a warning for the president. >> i would just ask the president to step back for a moment and realize that all of us here hold the secretary of state to a very different standard than most cabinet members. >> while republicans say they are concerned about susan rice advancing bad intel, the

the united nations six years ago and has since been ratified by 126 countries, just not the united states. even a last-minute appeal by former senator bob dole himself a disabled veteran, as well as every major veterans group and even the chamber of commerce could not sway senate republicans. but this is what has become of the republican party. a party whose views often dissend to the lowest common denominator and defined by paranoid fears of the u.n. that are devoid of any fact whatsoever. so one could understand harry reid's frustration in trying to negotiate with republicans when he vented, and i quote, it's difficult to engage in rational negotiation when one side holds well-known facts and proven truths in such low esteem. senator reid is spot on or more on what it means for the disabilities community i'm met with the ceo how shocked are you that it could not be ratified by the united states senate. >> when it comes down to it, i was floored. there is no reason in this day and age when a treaty that is focused on a quality for people with disabilities abroad can't pass the u.s

, let's say, president obama's a socialist, and the united nations wants to take your disabled child right out of your home. they have votes to back it up, folks. this pitiful display of most senate republicans on the disability treaty showed once again just how far they are, and how far they are removed from reality. one democratic senator told me yesterday his office was actually getting calls from constituents with disabled children wanting to know if the u.n. would remove their children from their homes. it is manufacturing fear in the lives of americans. sometimes it's just a bald-faced lie about the facts. here's the democratic and republican opening bids on the fiscal cliff. but the revenue side of the republican proposal just doesn't match up with reality. you can't get $800 billion in revenue from lowering rates and closing loopholes and deductions. can we get on that page? it doesn't come close to adding up, unless you get rid of just about every deduction for the middle class that's out there. is that what this election w@c about? president obama has been clear about it al

ambassador to the united nations. >> it was a totally different story over on the hill, where the day after john mccain, lindsey graham and kelly ayotte tried to drive a stake through rice's nomination chances, susan colins and bob corker rose up out of the ground to sink they're teeth into her. "the washington post" today reports a white house official and democratic aides say they think rice could win senate confirmation from the top diplomatic job if obama nominated her. however the piece note her confirmation could come at a high political cost as lawmakers negotiate a deal on taxes and entitlement reform. and nbc news reports the president has yet to make up his mind over whether he will select rice or massachusetts senator, john kerry. but they say the clock is ticking and a nominee might be announced as early as next week. wow. that's -- i mean that's a tease, huh? but here's the question. here's my question. ryan, i will ask you this first. are republicans going to spend the political capital they must to dead the susan rice nomination? i'll read from the hilling privately come repu

life. phillips'. . . >> jamie: susan rice has done a great job as our be ambassador to the united nations. and of course, this decision about my successor is up to the president. >> paul: and the secretary of state hillary clinton reacting to talk to president obama may nominate u.n. ambassador susan rice to replace her. rice made the rounds on capitol hill on tuesday in an attempt to ease republican concerns and smooth the way for potential cabinet nomination, just one of the positions that president obama will have to fill on his national security team in his second term. we're back with dan henninger and mary anastasia o'grady and bret stevens joins the panel. is there a case for susan rice as secretary of state. >> senator john mccain and susan ayotte feel they have a case again her in relates to benghazi before the election because susan rice after the incident happened, that the murder of ambassador stevens went on the sunday morning talk shows and said that the demonstrations were related to the islamic video that some kid in california made. and what they want to know is w

nonmember observer status at the united nations. israel now withholding $100 million in tax revenue from the palestinians. this after israel announced new settlements in the west bank and east jerusalem. aapparently in response to the u.n. general assembly win by the palestinians last thursday. joining us now as he does every sunday at this time, former united states ambassador to the u.n. john bolton. also a fox news contributor. good morning, ambassador. >> guest: good morning, eric. glad to be with you. >> eric: as always. of course. the u.n. vote, does it really instead make peace more difficult and compromise more complicated in that region? >> guest: absolutely. this vote was fundamentally illegitimate. there is no palestinian state. there is nothing that meets the custnary international law definition. the palestinian authority violated the oslo accord trying to change the status of the west bank and gaza through a means other than negotiation. i have to say it was a vote that could have been won by the united states and israel. but that, leave it for another day. i think isr

. ambassador to the united nations comes under fire again. this time, it's over ra wwanda. let's go "outfront." evening, welcome, everybody. i'm soledad o'brien. breaking news. president obama puts the syrian president bashar al assad on notice. the president is reacting to new notice that the regime is mixing with chemicals to make deadly gas. and today, i want to make it absolutely clear to assad and those under his command, the world is watching. the use of chemical weapons is an would be totally unacceptable. and if you make the tragic mistake of using these weapons, there will be consequences and you will be held accountable. >> assad is on the edge of president obama's so-called red line against syria. the president said the summer that syria's use or movement of chemical weapons could mean u.s. intervention, so "outfront" tonight, barbara starr. how exactly clear is the evidence in fact they are now moving in a new step in the direction with chemical weapons? >> it was just over the weekend that the intelligence began coming in showing that the assad regime was mixing agents,

united nations voting to we can niez a palestinian state. -- to recognize a palestinian state. >> thousands of people celebrating in the west bank. general assembly officially changed the palestinian status from u.n. observer to an observer state. >> palestine is not a state. when the u.n. engages in this kind of activity shows a real lack of commitment to stop it from happening. >>> netanyahu says the vote violates past agreements. >> george h.w. bush rapidly improving in the hospital. the 88-year-old was admitted for bronchitis and readmitted the day after thanksgiving. the doctors at the methodist hospital say the condition was never serious but wanted to prevent it from becoming pneumonia. former president bush could be released as early as this weekend. >> we know two people have won the record $580 million power ball jackpot. we will find out who one of them is today. that person bought his or her ticket at this gas station in missouri. lottery officials will announce who it is today. his son talked to tv crews about the big news. >> i didn't win the lottery but he laz w

united nations such as the international criminal court, in an attempt to try to delegitimize the state of israel or marginalize it, that there's a consequence in the congress of the united states that gives a significant amount of money to the palestinian authority. the problem with what i think is a reckless movement by president abbas is that when morning rises on the west bank, nothing will have changed as a result of the nonmember status that they acquired in the general assembly today. the general assembly was very hostile to the state of israel so nothing changes on the ground and the only way that we will get what we want, which is a two state, two people solution, is through a negotiated process. >> palestinian authority president mahmoud abbas says it's not about delegitimizing israel, it's about legitimizing a palestinian state. isn't this what everyone wants at the end of this very complicated, rather dangerous rainbow? >> it's interesting, in president abbas' remarks he never recognized israel as a jewish sovereign state. he never recognized the willingness or talked

i quote "palestine achieved historic achievement at the united nations." meanwhile, the palestinians celebrated, israeli settlement construction on the west bank continued today. in response to the u.n. vote, israel said it was planning for additional construction in the same area where the pict the actual work, that could be years away. government gave green light for construction of 3,000 units in east jerusalem and elsewhere on the west bank. weekly cabinet meeting today prime minister benjamin netanyahu dismissed criticism of the settlement construction saying and i quote, "we will carry on building in jerusalem and in all areas on the map of israel strategic interest." if israel proceeds with the settlement plans the palestinians say it is going to make it immaterial possible for them to have -- make it impossible to have a viable state because it's not contiguous on the ground. united states addressed the settlement saying it was counterproductive. >> eric: we'll see what the palestinians do now that they can be more involved in the u.n. agencies and the criminal c